Ok, I know it’s supposed to be chef salad, meaning the cook puts all of one meal into a salad or some such connotation, but since the “chef” is the “chief” of the kitchen, I thought a change in spelling was due. And upon finishing such a giant salad, I felt as important (and stuffed) […]
Archive for May, 2007
May21
Where’s the dessert?
Should every dinner have a dessert? I know I ought not be eating it, but does it belong in our culture of eating? When I went to college in Rochester (NY), they had a couple of what I’d describe as dessert shops, these places—cafés perhaps—that only sold dessert, tea, and coffee. You could go there on a […]
Filed in: Banter
May19
Shrimp “Diavolo” with Polenta
Tonight I made dinner, and cooked shrimp. I hardly ever cook shrimp. Polenta I like polenta; mushy as a mush, or fried up into little cakes. I used tonight an “instant” polenta with 1/3 chicken stock, 2/3 water, plus salt. It’s easy to make. Boil the liquids, add the polenta, and stir like mad. Follow the proportions […]
Filed in: In the Kitchen
May19
Rustic Pizzas
There are many kinds of pizza. I put them into three categories: Italian American pizza (red sauce, cheese, any number of toppings) California Pizzas (Wolfgang-Puck inspired toppings with odd-ball ingredients, different flavors) Rustic, homemade pizzas (anything not perfectly round) I know, this is overly simplistic. There are of course thin-crusts, Neopolitan-style, deep-dish, etc., but who really cares? The reason […]
Filed in: In the Kitchen
May14
Beef with Wine Sauce
I know, that’s a particularly simple English title for something that is likely beautiful in Italian. I had this dish tonight at Chianti, in Richmond’s west-end. It was a special. It was good, but it could have been much better. The cooking technique, and specifically, the sauce(s) are what I want to think about (and prepare […]
Filed in: Banter